Our Easter Services at Christ Church and St Mary’s

Maundy Thursday – 28th March

Old Town Partnership of Churches Maundy Thursday Agape Meal and Holy Communion at Immanuel Church at 7:30pm for 1 hour.

Good Friday – 29th March

Reflect at the Cross – a Good Friday Meditation – 12 noon to 3pm* in Christ Church

Led by Karen Campbell, Secretary for Global & Intercultural Ministries (Mission) in the United Reformed Church, we will join with our partnership congregations from Immanuel URC and Bath Road Methodist for our traditional 3 hours at the cross.
* you are welcome to come and go as you please on the hour or half-hour during the hymn.

Children’s Good Friday Workshop

For children up to 11 years (bring an adult with you)
at Christ Church Community Centre from 1:30 to 3pm, this Friday, 22nd March.
Craft and Activities based around the theme of Holy Week and Easter Day
All welcome!

Holy Saturday – 30th March

Fellowship of Faith presents…. Movie Night at 7pm

Come and join us to watch ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (cert.18)*
*WARNING – contains scenes of a graphic nature
Refreshments available to purchase
Suggested donation £2
Raising money for Christ Church and Fellowship of Faith

Easter Day – Sunday 31st March

6am Sunrise service with Holy Communion on the green outside Holy Rood on the Lawn.

Please bring a chair. Breakfast will be served afterwards. Please RSVP.

In Christ Church

8am Holy Communion

10am Holy Communion

This will also be live-streamed HERE

6.30pm Easter Praise

This will also be live-streamed HERE

In St Mary’s

9am Holy Communion

Easter Monday – 1st April

Children’s Easter Activity Day

Fun activities in and around Christ Church and the Community Centre from 11am to 3pm, including:

Bible verse pebble trail
Easter Bonnet competition
Art & crafts
Picnic area
Refreshments
And a visit from the Easter Bunny!
Children £3, adults free.
For more information, please contact Alex & James Davies-Spratt

You can find all of our Easter Services and Events and more about the life of our church HERE

Passiontide Organ Recital

Passiontide Organ Recital by Tim Eyles, Director of Music at Christ Church.

Wednesday 27th March, at 1pm in Christ Church for one hour.

Free Entry with retiring collection.

Hot drinks and refreshments will be available from 12:30pm.

Music of a sombre nature, though not always soft, by composers such as JS Bach (Sei gegrüsset variations), Rheinberger (passacaglia from sonata 8 ), Flor Peeters, Alan Bullard, Healey Willan and William Bolcom.

There will also be two preludes by women composers Jeanne Demessieux and Sarah MacDonald.

All welcome!

The Friends of Christ Church AGM and Annual Lecture

The Friends of Christ Church next AGM is to be held on Wednesday 17th April 2024 at 2pm in Christ Church.

The AGM will be followed by our Annual Lecture at 3pm. This year’s lecture theme is: Resurrection Art from Around the World by the Revd. Robert Jordan.

Entry is Free but a donation is appreciated for the work of the Friends.

All Welcome!

To find out more about the Friends of Christ Church head over to their page on our website here: https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/blog/join-in/friends-of-christ-church/

Our Recent Lent Reflection Day Talks

We recently held a Lent Reflection day at St Mary’s Church led by Revd Moira Slack.

The theme of the day was ‘Take up Your Cross’. The event offered the opportunity for quiet reflection, teaching and friendship.

If you were unable to attend the reflection day, or attended and want to revisit the talks, you can download a transcript of the talks and the Passiontide Morning Prayer that was used at the event by clicking the links below:

Lent Reflection Day Morning Prayer

Lent Reflection Day Talks

We hope these materials help you draw closer to God this Easter

Christ Church 11th Annual Beer Festival Tickets on Sale Friday 1st March

TICKETS ARE ON SALE FRIDAY 1ST MARCH!

The 11th Old Town Beer Festival is on it’s way!

The Beer Festival is 11 years old and it’s going to be a big one!

Join us from Thursday 9th – Sunday 12th May for our four-day festival of beer, cider, comedy, and live music to help raise funds for the church. Did you know, our annual beer festival is our biggest fundraiser of the year!

Find out more about tickets here!

Moonrakers Folk Concert in Christ Church Next Month

Moonrakers is an Oxford-based group of four musicians who pride themselves in having brought traditional and contemporary folk music to new audiences in village halls, churches, arts centres and festivals across the UK.

The fact that the band “just OOZES quality” (Living Tradition) is down to the careful arrangements and selection of tunes and songs, presenting “exquisite music” (BBC). The material is a combination of traditional Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English music and their own contemporary songs and tunes, still very much ‘in the idiom’.

Dates/Times
19:00-22:00 Saturday, 23rd March, 2024. Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Pay bar available.

Venue
Christ Church, Cricklade Street, Swindon, SN1 3HB

Tickets
Adult (16+): £10.00 + £0.50
Child: £6.00 + £0.50

Buy Your Tickets Here

Contact details
If you have a question about this event, please contact:

Community Centre @ Christ Church
01793 617237
ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk

You can check out the Moonrakers at their website here: https://moonrakers.net/index.html

Out of the Ashes – Chasing Away The winter Blues Concert Coming Soon to the Community Centre @ Christ Church

The hotly anticipated return of Out of the Ashes following an appearance at the Old Town beer festival in 2022.

Out of the Ashes, jazz and blues band with gospel roots is the creation of a pioneering husband and wife team from Gloucestershire in the UK – Penny Lyon and Kevin Washburn. With hundreds of videos, several hundred thousand views and thousands of followers on social media, award winning Out of the Ashes have built a big online audience and also regularly play live gigs across the UK and Europe attracting rave reviews.

A favourite on the Radio 2 Blues Show, along with many other national radio stations all around the world, Out of the Ashes is fronted by Penny Lyon – lead vocals – and Kevin Washburn on lead guitar. With more than seventy songs across five albums, including their fifth album ‘Where the Warriors Kneel’ which has just released, Out of the Ashes have a wealth of material that keeps their set fresh, engaging and hugely entertaining

Dates/Times
19:00-22:00, Saturday 9th March 2024. Doors Open 7pm, pay bar is available.

Venue
Community Centre @ Christ Church
Swindon
SN1 3HB

Tickets
Adult (16+): £10.00 + £0.50
Child: £8.00 + £0.50

Buy Tickets Here

Contact details
If you have a question about this event, please contact:

Community Centre @ Christ Church
01793617237
ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk

Divorced, Beheaded, Died – An Audience with King Henry VIII

DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD! – TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST!

Divorced, Behead, Died : An Audience with King Henry VIII

‘The year is 1544 and King Henry, the Eighth of that name, is engaged upon Royal Progress about his Realm; and has halted here to afford his Loyal Subjects the opportunity to have ‘audience’ with their Sovereign Lord and King.

The King, recently married to his new, and sixth, wife, Queen Catherine Parr, is in poor health; his leg continues to cause him considerable pain and he is often in a poor humour!

In the course of the ‘audience’, His Majesty will recount the events of his long reign; telling of his wives and his children, and His Majesty will invite his Loyal Subjects to Petition him or question him on ANY related subject : there may be some surprising answers – a lively Q&A is assured!’

Dates/Times
19:00-22:00 Friday 8th Mar 2024

Venue:
Christ Church
Cricklade Street
Swindon
SN1 3HB

Tickets
Adult (16+): £10.00 + £0.50
Child (12-16): £6.00 + £0.50

Find out more and buy tickets here: https://ccccswindon.co.uk/page/tickets

Contact details:
If you have a question about this event, please contact:
Christ Church
01793 617237
ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk

Swindon Humanitarian Aid Project (SHAP) Update and Upcoming Concert

The volunteers at The Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership continue to find new ways to support Ukraine and Ukrainians living in and around Swindon.

We were delighted and proud to unveil our Children’s Story Bus to local dignitaries and the media. BBC TV and radio were present to hear SHAP Chair Mike Bowden thank all those that had made the project possible: Lord Tony Berkeley, Heidi Alexander and Leon Daniels for the initial contact with the bus industry; Gavin Smith at Go-East Anglia for donating the bus; Arend Von Freeden for removing all the seats and constructing tables and cupboards. Our many volunteers for collecting teddy bears, books and toys for the children to enjoy. And most particularly Billy Beaumont, the local artist who designed and painted the stunning mural on the inside of the bus.
The bus is due to be driven to Calais in the coming days where it will be handed over to Ukrainian colleagues to drive across Europe to begin its work at schools and community centres.

In the last month two 40’ articulated trucks have left our warehouse in Swindon packed with hygiene products, wheelchairs, trench candles, bedding, medicines, walking aids, food and much more. The recipients in Ukraine send photos back to us showing the aid being distributed around the country to ordinary everyday people -who through no fault of their own find themselves in a war zone.  Our volunteers need little in the way of motivation but such photos serve to reinforce the fact that their efforts are making a real difference to people back home.

Ukrainians love culture and we were fortunate in Swindon to once again welcome The Ukrainian National Opera Company to the Wyvern Theatre. SHAP were delighted to be offered a block of discounted tickets for the performance of Madam Butterfly on the 11th February. A packed house was treated to an outstanding performance and a rousing version of the Ukrainian national anthem at the end of the evening that was greeted with deafening cheers from the audience.

Very sadly the 24th February is the 2nd anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and SHAP, in partnership with The Swindon Concert Band, is marking this important and sombre moment with a concert at Christ Church in Old Town at 7:30pm.  It would be fitting to fill the church to show Swindon’s unwavering support for our Ukrainian friends.

To find out more and buy tickets visit:

https://ccccswindon.co.uk/events/17/details

or email: tickets@swindonconcertband.co.uk

SiX The Musical Teen Edition performance in Christ Church next Friday, 16th February.

This a youth holiday production by the Pauline Quirke Academy Swindon.

Doors open at 5:45pm with the show starting at 6:15pm and finishing at 7:30pm.

Tickets are normally £15 but members of Christ Church Swindon can discounted tickets at £12 if they are bought before midnight on Tuesday 13th February using the code BE_AMAZING at the checkout using the link below:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/pqareadingandswindon/six-teen-edition-live/e-oqdblm

Will you come and support these talented youngsters?

PQA Swindon
#christchurchswindon #LivePerformance #showtime #PQA #sixthemusical

New Christ Church Lunch Club Launches This April

Starting on Monday 15th April, a new Lunch Club will run every Monday between 12 noon – 2pm in the Community Centre.

Cost per person will be £6 per week to include a main course and a pudding.

It will be essential to book and confirm meal choices in advance to Linda on 07836 501110.

For enquiries, please contact Chris or Jen at:

ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk

or call 01793 61723